1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to storage, dispensing, control, and monitoring of dosage forms of varying or identical forms, and more particularly, to devices for same.
2. Description of the Background of the Invention
In the healthcare industry, the storing and controlled dispensing of dosage forms that may comprise, for example, capsules, pills, caplets, suppositories, ampoules of liquid, and/or any other forms for dispensing medications or other health-related items or substances, such as a nutritional supplement, may require a complex set of manual procedures to be undertaken before a particular dosage form reaches and is administered to a patient. Errors in administration of the medication or other item can and do occur, even when the procedures incorporate safeguards to protect against such errors. Further, such procedures and systems implementing those procedures have suffered from the disadvantage that the tracking of dispensing and accounting for patient billing purposes are not ideally implemented.
Many healthcare facilities utilize distribution centers at which employees inventory, process, package, and distribute medical and dietary dosage forms in blister packages, vials, or other containers. In some existing systems, medical and dietary dosage forms are requested for an automated dispensing system typically disposed at a location remote from the distribution center. The packaged medical or dietary dosage forms are transported to the requesting healthcare provider and must thereafter be correctly loaded into the automated dispensing system. In some systems, the dosage forms must be associated with patients. In such a setting, human error at any point in this process can result in incorrect distribution and administration of dosages, at times, with undesirable results. Additionally, existing dispensing systems and devices may be inefficient in situations where several medications must be dispensed at scheduled times and/or when immediate dispensing is needed, such as in an emergency room or in the case of a new patient.
Once medications are received, processed, and stored by a healthcare or other facility there is sometimes a lack of complete assurance whether the correct medication(s) or other item(s) or substance(s) have been properly dispensed to and/or taken by patients. Some facilities employ a system having medications for multiple patients therein, wherein the dispensing of medications is monitored by the system. A device used in such a system includes a number of compartments therein, wherein when a compartment is opened and one or more medication(s) or other item(s) or substance(s) are removed from the compartment, the system stores time of opening, an identification of the medication(s), item(s), and/or substance(s) that were stored in such compartment, and information regarding the patient associated with the medication(s), item(s), and/or substance(s) that were stored in the compartment.